The Love Quadrilateral
by TheRebelQueen
Summary: Pan, Echo, Narcissus, and himself get into a messy love quadrilateral. Supporting roles by Cupid and Psyche. Now with the sad ending!!
1. Default Chapter

Pan, Echo, Narcissus, & Himself:  
  
A Love Quadrilateral  
  
(A/N: This is a story I thought up one night. The plotline is taken from a situation in which I have become immersed. In this story, Echo is not cursed to repeat what others say. It will all be explained in time.)  
  
"He's so beautiful, isn't he?" Narcissus sighed.  
  
"Yeah, I guess so," replied Echo. "You've been sitting in front of that pool all week! Can I get you anything? Food, wine, nectar, ambrosia, anything?"  
  
"That's nice of you, but the exalted figure in the pool has so entranced my mind that I have no appetite."  
  
"Oh well. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask. I'll be nearby." Echo stalked off into the surrounding woods to complain to Pan and Psyche. She found them a few groves over, Pan playing his pipes and Psyche sitting nearby weaving grass baskets. "What a prick! He doesn't even notice me! He's too busy staring into that horrid puddle! I could swear that he thought his reflection was a real person!!!!"  
  
"Um, Sweetie," Psyche said, "he DOES think it is a real person. I've heard him lamenting to himself. He's completely infatuated and thinks his reflection is a real being trapped in the pool by an evil curse."  
  
"I'm so sorry!" Pan put down his pipes and went over to comfort the girl. "If I could do anything to make him like you, I would. I can't stand to see you unhappy!"  
  
"That's ok. I have some consolation by staring at him from the other side of the water. It's always so calm and peaceful. He could make any setting look wonderful. In fact, I think I'll join him now." Echo tripped off to join Narcissus looking a great deal happier than when she arrived.  
  
"Why does she have to ignore me?! It's so frustrating!" Pan fumed. "Why doesn't she give up on that self-absorbed idiot and see how much I like her? Can you help? I mean, you are the wife of Cupid and all. Could you two get together and figure something out?"  
  
"I don't know, I'll try. It does seem like a fairly silly situation, after all. I really should discourage him from hanging around Bacchus when he has work to do. I'll talk to him about it."  
  
"And if by any way you could get her to like me, I would be very appreciative."  
  
"We'll see."  
  
That night…  
  
"Hey, Love," Psyche wheedled, "what's happening with Pan, Echo, and Narcissus? They seem… I don't know… in love with each other. Do you know anything about that?"  
  
"Each other?!?!" said Cupid. "That's not the way it was supposed to work! Zeus was off on some escapade or another and he told me to stall Juno. I had Echo talk her ear off while I went to find Pan. I thought I would shoot him and he'd fall in love with Juno and she wouldn't feel so left out. I guess he saw Echo first and fell in love with her."  
  
"I can guess the rest. By that time it was too late for Juno to catch Zeus red-handed and she was so mad at Echo that she cursed her to suffer her worst nightmare. Knowing Echo that would mean she was doomed to love someone who didn't notice her. Narcissus was the perfect candidate because he was beautiful and fated to love one person for his whole life. Poor girl! Poor Pan too! I don't suppose there's anything we can do to help?"  
  
"Not that I know of, but you're the brains of this operation! You think of something!"  
  
"I'll try. I can't stand seeing them like this!"  
  
"That's why I love you! You're so compassionate!"  
  
The next day…  
  
"Please Juno! You know she didn't mean anything by it! She was doing a favor for Cupid and things went haywire! You can't blame someone for listening to Zeus!"  
  
"Oh yes, I can and will! Now go away before I curse you too!" Psyche slowly backed out of the room, making no sudden movements. As soon as she was out of the High Home, she ran towards the forest.  
  
"Well, convincing Juno how wrong she was didn't work. I didn't really expect it to. I mean, look what happened to Aeneas! Moving on to plan B, then… Hey Pan!!!"  
  
"You called?" A horned head peered out from behind a line of trees.  
  
"Yeah, come here for a minute. I have an idea."  
  
"Ok," Pan said hesitantly. "You know whenever you say that it makes me want to run away."  
  
"Trust me for a minute." Psyche put on the special sunglasses she had borrowed from Cupid the night before. Then she saw it, a bright red arrow protruding from Pan's shoulder. "Found it! Ok, bend over this rock for a second and hold still. I think this is going to hurt."  
  
"Why would I do something if you tell me it's going to hurt?"  
  
"Because then you won't be pining anymore."  
  
"Well, in that case…" Pan flopped over the rock and held on as hard as he could. Psyche leaned over and carefully began extracting the arrow from his shoulder. It was difficult work and required all of Psyche's concentration not to accidentally break off the arrowhead and leave it in Pan's shoulder. The work progressed, however, and Psyche could almost feel it loosening.  
  
"Hi everyone," Echo said as she walked into the clearing.  
  
  
  
A/N: Now, there's supposed to be two endings to this story, the happy ending and the sad ending. At this point, only the happy ending is written. You could leave me encouragement to get back to writing the sad ending. That would be nice. I would feel loved. 


	2. Happy ending

Happy ending…  
  
"DON'T MOVE!!!" Psyche shouted just as Pan was about to jump up to greet Echo. Pan obeyed and the next second Psyche removed the end of the arrow. "Got it!" she laughed as she scampered around the grove. "How do you feel?" she asked Pan.  
  
"Surprisingly good. Kind of bitter, but good! Thank you!"  
  
"No problem!"  
  
Echo, who had been watching this exchange in confusion, asked, "What just happened?"  
  
Psyche proceeded to explain, "Well, Pan liked you when he got hit with a wayward arrow from my husband's bow but I've managed to extract it so that he will no longer be pained to watch you vainly sigh over Narcissus."  
  
"Oh! That's what I came here to tell you about!" Echo said. "When I gave Narcissus a raspberry pie that I had made, he actually looked up from his pool and thanked me!!!!" She proceeded to frolic about the grove in spasms of ecstasy.  
  
"Echo…?" A hesitant voice called out from behind the foliage. The next minute, a head crowned with a shower of blond hair peeked out from behind a tree.  
  
"Narcissus? But you're…" Echo started.  
  
"I have something to confess. I really love you, Echo. I always have, probably always will. I pretended to be in love with myself when other people were watching so that I could have some time to think about what I should do. I decided to just come and tell you. If you decide to reject me, then I guess I can move on. I hope you won't though."  
  
"Silly!! I've loved you for the longest time! You were just too busy with your own feelings to notice mine!"  
  
"Really? I just thought you were being nice!"  
  
"Wait a minute," Psyche interjected. "I heard you lamenting about how your reflection was trapped in the pool by an evil curse while I was hiding behind a tree. What was happening there?"  
  
"Oh! I was talking to myself. I kept feeling like I was trapped inside my own feelings & cursed to love her without love in return, sappy stuff like that."  
  
"Makes perfect sense. I guess everything's solved now."  
  
"But what about me?" Pan whined. "I don't have anyone to be happy with!" At that very moment a mountain goat bounded past. "Hey, baby! Where you headed? You must be tired cuz you've been running through my mind all day…." Pan bounded off following the goat's trail.  
  
"Well, that solves that problem!" Psyche commented, "I'm going home. It's been a long day."  
  
The end.  
  
  
  
A/N: YAY!!!! 


	3. Sad Ending

Sad ending.  
  
*SNAP!*  
  
The point of the arrow broke off as Pan jumped up to greet Echo.  
  
"No!" Psyche shouted as she threw Cupid's sunglasses to the ground, "It's useless! Every time that I try to do something for someone it blows up in my face! Why do I even try anymore?" Psyche burst into sobs and sunk to the forest floor, smashing the sunglasses beyond repair.  
  
Echo and Pan had hurriedly moved away from the raving Psyche. About that time, Cupid entered the area. "What's all the commotion? Did it. What did you do to my glasses?!?! How can I work if I'm stumbling around blind?" he shouted.  
  
"Excuse me, Mr. High-and-Mighty! As if you've never made a mistake before! This whole situation is your fault, you and your stupid arrows! You don't appreciate me and you never listen to me! How about this? I'm never going to see you again!" Psyche ran out of the clearing and into the depths of the forest. After shooting a vicious look in the direction of the retreating Psyche, Cupid knelt to pick up the broken shards while muttering about insanity.  
  
When he looked up, he noticed the somewhat shell-shocked Pan and Echo. "I'm sorry, but I have work to do." He turned and strode in the opposite direction Psyche had taken.  
  
And so it was.  
  
Whenever love would pierce a mortal's heart, rational thought would flee his mind. Pan, Echo, and Narcissus continued to sit around the pool, Pan staring at Echo, Echo at Narcissus, and Narcissus at himself. Without Pan to guard the forests, humans chopped down large sections at will. Buildings reached towards the sky where once there were peaceful groves. Eventually, even the pool into which Narcissus stared was made into a bank lobby. Narcissus simply stared into his reflection on the cold marble floors.  
  
And the world was changed. 


End file.
